Sid Dowton

What do you see for future of ranching along the East Fork of the Salmon River?

“I believe we either have to stabilize ranching or sell conservation easements on our property. If we can’t do those two, we have to subdivide. I’ve been in the ranching business all of my life. I’ve put all of my life savings into ranching and I’ve got retire. I’m getting 62 years old and can’t continue to do it. I would like to stay in the ranching business. With the controversies with the fish and the wolves and the recreation, it’s more difficult. I hope that we can stay in the ranching industry. I hope that we could find a balance so that we could get what everyone wants from this beautiful country up here. But I don’t see that happening. Maybe with the proposed wilderness up here, ranching will become that much harder. I think that we have to maybe look at the conservation easements. If that doesn’t come through and I can’t run my cattle up here, then I only have one alternative: to break my property into small ranchettes, subdivide. It has a big value to that. We are not far from the Ketchum and Stanley Basin area where property values are very high, and we think we have everything to offer that they have.”

Do you want this area to be subdivided?

“I certainly wouldn’t. I don’t think the river would be the same or the game would be the same. We’re under a lot of pressure, and trying to make a living today is pretty tough. I have two children in my operation. Neither one of them are very interested in trying to run cattle on public grazing. They can see the handwriting on the wall. I think that my wife, Karen, and I are committed to the land. We just hate to give up on it because of our lifestyle. We may not win this battle. I really don’t think we will. I hope we could.”

Can a compromise be reached between the different user-groups?

“I have been trying to work with the various conservation groups for years, and trying to work with the SNRA people, government people. Its are too many driving forces to eliminate ranching on the East Fork, and maybe even eliminate ranching here in the West. It’s highly public ground here in the west. People think that with public ground, public ownership, they all have a piece of the action, they all have a say what should happen, and I don’t have anything against that. I just don’t see a way that we’re going to solve all of the issues that are on the table, and for me to stay in the cow business and run out here on public lands.”